Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day

It's not exactly a Memorial Day story, but it's about the greatest generation and they were the ones who first made me aware of the cost of war. I met and wrote about this man a few years ago, but the simple uniqueness of his story has haunted my thoughts ever since. I posted it here before, but it seemed worth repeating.

I met a hero the other day. Normally, you
might expect to meet a hero at a public event with the media present and
politicians vying for camera time, but I met him in the service waiting room at
an East Texas car dealership.

He stepped down out of his pickup just
like any normal person, talked to the service writer and left it to have the
oil changed.

He was a senior citizen, as we like to
call them now, and as he walked across the driveway you could see that age had
taken its toll. He was stooped and his skin was weathered by the Texas sun. He
flashed a friendly smile as he headed my way, choosing an outdoor seat over a
stuffy waiting room with a blaring television. He was an unimposing guy…jeans,
boots and a straw cowboy hat. The hat wasn’t big, or fancy, or expensive like
Hollywood cowboys wear. It was a working man’s hat…the kind you wear to shield
you against the weather, but it was his go-to-town hat, too. He looked average
in every way…medium height, slender build, glasses, and…well, just average looking
as Texans go. He wasn’t a body builder, but he appeared fit for his age. He sat
down on the bench beside me and we exchanged greetings.

The warm, morning sun had just cleared
the hills behind us, and we both commented on the beautiful morning. He carried
a Max Brand novel in his hand, but after we exchanged greetings, he placed it
on the bench beside him and we struck up a conversation. He had already acquired
my interest and I wasn’t going to let him read if I could indulge him in
conversation.

We first talked about retirement, and the
good old days, and cotton farming, and raising cows. He said he’d loved the
idea of raising cattle since he was a kid in high school many decades earlier,
but had to forego his plans to put some time in the Army.

It was then that I learned I was sitting
beside a hero…a WWII combat vet. I asked him which unit he had been in…though I
should have guessed. The former US Army Corporal was a native Texan and a
member of the 36th Infantry Division…the Texas division…when they were sent
first to Africa, and then to land on the Italian coast at Salerno in 1943.

After some general conversation about the
military, he got this look in his eye. He was far away in another time, and in
his soft East Texas drawl, he took me along…and I didn’t object.

He said he had wanted to tell his
children and grandchildren all about war, but despite the urgings of his
family, he was embarrassed to do so. I told him to respect his family’s
request. They weren’t trying to humor an old man, they were truly interested.
He said he had recorded part of his story on audio tapes, but hadn’t gone into
the detail about many of the things that still filled his mind. One of his
grandchildren had copied the tapes on a CD, but what he had recorded didn’t
include everything he wanted to say...there was still so much to tell. All the
little things.

He wanted them to understand what it was
really like to be scared every day, but to hide the fear with jokes and
bravado, like young men in combat always do. He wanted to explain what it felt
like to be exhausted, and hungry, and cold, and wet for weeks on end. What it
was like to look across an open field at the enemy whose job it was to defeat
you by taking your life, and knowing you would soon meet him eye to eye. He
wanted people to understand what went on in your mind when you saw friends die
in an instant, and what it was like to cheat injury or death by a turn of
fate’s card. He wanted to tell them that the way you dealt with it was to get
rip-roaring drunk when you could, or to find a private place to cry until you
couldn’t cry anymore. He told me several stories about individual battles, and
what had happened to him and members of his unit.

The stories were not boastful tales of
triumph, but rather one man’s quiet account of his tiny role in a brutal war
fought between powerful countries. He never bragged that he had done anything
more than what was expected of him as a member of a mortar squad. I don’t know
if he was awarded any individual citations. He didn’t say, and I didn't ask,
but he did say he was one of only two men in his original company not killed or
wounded. He marveled at his good fortune, but mourned the loss of so many
friends. He didn’t complain or speak ill of the government that sent him to
war. It was something that had to be done and he was obliged to do his part.
His pride was apparent, but his deeds were not demanding of praise or comment.
And there was no anger in his voice, only the need to explain how it really
was. I was eager to listen, and he was willing to talk about it.

You might wonder why, without medals and
fanfare, I’ve referred to the Corporal from Texas as a hero, but that’s easy to
explain. He belongs to a generation that’s rapidly disappearing; a generation
we’ve selfishly taken for granted…and they’ve not complained. Not enough of us understand
their personal sacrifice, nor do we appreciative how they built the world we
live in today. The young soldiers that went to war did what was asked and
expected of them, and they did it to the best of their ability. Like so many
veterans I’ve talked to, he didn’t come home with expectations of being treated
special. He did his job, and then he came home to rejoin society and start a
family. He could finally get back home to raise cattle and to live the life he
loved. When you are a real hero, that’s what you do. No demands. No whining.
You quietly get on with life. I’m certain he’d be embarrassed at being called a
hero, but in my eyes, he and his generation are all heroes. Their sacrifice
allowed me all the comforts I now enjoy, and their labors have given the modern
world a standard of living that couldn’t have even been envisioned when they
were young.

All too soon the mechanic returned with
his truck, and our conversation had to end. I could have listened to him for
hours, but like anything good, a small amount makes you appreciate it even
more. He apologized for bending my ear, but in my mind, he was passing on a personal
record of history and I thank him for both the lesson and the pleasure of his
company. We shook hands and I watched him walk away. It was time to do what
modest heroes do. It was time to go home and check on the cows.